Einkorn Sourdough Chapatis {Indian Flatbread}

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Chapatis are a thick, soft, chewy, Indian flatbread — so delicious!

Use them for wraps, as a side bread to dip in a soup or stew, or simply eat alongside a salad. They're so similar to pocket bread (yet easier to make) that we enjoy them for our Thanksgiving and Christmas Middle Eastern feasts!

I learned how to make these from my friend Christina (creator of the No-Knead Sourdough Bread in the Sourdough eCourse). She’s such a great baker — she just eyeballs and mixes flour, fat, water and salt and creates perfect chapatis!

I adapted her recipe to use sourdough and ancient grains like einkorn. Here it is!

Einkorn Sourdough Chapatis {Indian Flatbread}

Chapatis are traditional Indian flatbread -- perfect for dipping in soups and stews or eating alongside salad! Here's how to make a super nourishing and easy version with ancient einkorn and sourdough starter!

Course
Breads

Cuisine
Indian

Prep Time7minutes

Cook Time24minutes

Total Time8hours31minutes

Servings6chapatis

AuthorWardee Harmon

Ingredients

2-1/2cupseinkorn flouror spelt or emmer — this is my favorite source and I make fresh-ground flour in my Mockmill, the first affordable home stone grain mill

Instructions

At least 7 hours before...

Mix to get all the flour wet, and at the end when it gets harder to handle, you can switch to your hands. You should have a shaggy dough; don’t worry about it being smooth or anything.

Put it back in the bowl and let it sit for 5 to 15 minutes while the flour absorbs the water. Cover with a tea towel.

Then sprinkle a little flour on a clean counter top and start kneading the dough. It should be a little sticky, but if it’s too sticky to work, you can sprinkle a little flour on the counter top.

Knead for 5 minutes, until you have a smooth dough.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil in the mixing bowl.

Put your dough ball inside and turn over to coat with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit out in a room temperature location for 7 to 8 hours or overnight.

To cook...

When you’re ready to begin cooking them, heat up one or two cast-iron skillets over medium heat. You’ll be adjusting the heat as you go; you always want them hot but not quite smoking.

Uncover the dough and pull apart into 6 pieces. A good way to do this is to break it in half and then pull each half into 3 equal size balls. Put them back in the bowl and keep lightly covered so they don’t dry out.

Sprinkle flour on a clean countertop.

Grab a ball of dough and roll into smooth ball. Then press it flat in the flour, turn it over, and coat the other side with a bit of flour. Then start rolling it into a circle that’s about 6 inches wide and 3/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick.

When that one is done, set it aside and begin rolling out another. You’re going to continue rolling them out as you can while they’re cooking.

When the skillet is hot and almost smoking, it is ready. Put a chapati on the dry skillet. Let it cook a minute or two, until it begins to bubble up. Flip it over.

While it’s still in the skillet, spread a pat of butter on the cooked side (you can take off any extra).

When the bottom side has cooked, another minute or so, flip it onto a waiting baking tray and spread butter on that second side.

Repeat with all chapatis until they’re all done.

If you’re not quite ready to serve, put them in a warm oven (or you can use a clay tortilla keeper). They are best served fresh. Stack them up on a platter and let everyone dig in.

Store leftovers in an airtight container; reheat by warming up each side on a dry skillet over medium-low heat. Or freeze for later! This recipe easily doubles or triples.

Rotis or chapatis are just wheat flour, water, salt and maybe oil. They don’t need sourdough starter. They are unleavened bread. The trick is to knead well, get a soft yet slightly moist dough. Set aside for an hr and roll out your rotis.

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